Lincoln gritters blessed ahead of winter weather

As the nights turn darker and the weather gets colder, Lincolnshire’s gritters have been given a special blessing to pray for safety on the county’s roads.

In what has become an annual tradition, the Bishop of Grantham visited the Sturton By Stow depot on November 5 for the ceremony.

Right Reverend Doctor Nicholas Chamberlain said a few words and went onto bless each of the depot’s six gritters.

He told The Lincolnite after the blessing: “I think this is hugely important work. I think some people might find it surprising and others might want to question it. I can understand that.

“It’s about doing something which I see as good and positive. We are just trying to surround people with prayer and I think that’s a positive thing to do. Of course there will be different views but this is something I can do.”

Across the whole of Lincolnshire, there are 43 gritters which can spread up to 29,000 tonnes of salt over the winter period.

The Beast from the East which brought extremely cold weather to the whole of the country resulted in 38,000 tonnes of salt being spread in Lincolnshire alone.

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